Hosting Site For Videos Instead of YouTube

[sheriesmith]

Yesterday on our SSWT call, Lynn recommended I set up my own domain name ASAP to host my videos, rather than keep them on YouTube. For those not on the call, here's my situation. I'm a real estate appraiser and started a blog recently with homeowner tips to get ready for their appraisal and to also increase their home value. About the 2nd week into this new blog, I rec'd requests from 3 real estate sites (from Louisiana to Florida) asking if they could add one of my videos to their website. I was shocked and excited. My blog is http://homeappraisaltips.blogspot.com I should have asked Lynn on the call but we were out of time. (Lynn, hope you read this and reply too when you have time) I understand I need them on my own site for ownership and control. But won't I be losing a lot of visibility if I don't put have them on YouTube? Thanks for any feedback.

[sheriesmith]

Hope it didn't sound like I was questioning Lynn's recommendation. I highly respect Lynn's opinion and experience. That certainly was not what I meant if it came across that way. I've already narrowed potential domain names down to 3 options that are available. Hope to have that decided and purchased by tomorrow. I was just trying to understand the strategy (I guess you'd call it) about YouTube traffic. Do you simply try to make up for losing that visibility in other ways, social media, etc.? Or is there still a way to post videos on YouTube after you have them hosted and protected on your own domain? Please forgive if I ask a dumb question. Trying to learn...thanks again.

[torontocarol]

Hi Sherie,
I wasn't on the call, so not sure what Lynn meant, but wondered if she was telling you to have them on your own domain as well, but not necessarily take them off of youtube?

Carol

[torontocarol]

Just had a look at your videos. Very nice, you are really easy to listen to. My son-in-law is a general contractor in Nashville, I'll have to tell him to take a look.

Carol

[sheriesmith]

Hi Carol, thanks for your replies and kind comment about my videos. I'm glad you were pleased with what you saw and heard. Hope your son enjoys them as well.

I wish we had had more time on the call so I could get a bit more information. Lynn was just closing out the call when I posted the question in the chat. She was trying to squeeze in an answer quickly for me before we ran out of time. Like I mentioned in my 2nd post, I don't know if I CAN have the same videos on my own site and YouTube too. Or if you place them on YouTube also then does that defeat the protectiveness of them being hosted on your own site to begin with.

I hope more people will post comments about their own experiences or their knowledge so I can learn more. Lynn may post also, but I know she's busy at Underground 6 this weekend. Thanks so much again, and maybe we'll meet at an event one day.

Sherie

[lisamariemary]

Hmm...this is interesting. I'm looking forward to hearing people chime in on this, too!

(Carol, does your son have a site? Twitter?)

[wade_watson]

Well, I'm no web video expert but I believe it's OK to post a video on YouTube if you have it hosted on your site as well (though I don't see why you would). I suppose there are advantages of hosting locally. You could build a mailing list by requiring an opt-in before viewing. However, if you're putting your name and web address or whatever within the video and you want to use it as a promotional device, then posting it on YouTube and encouraging others to embed it on their site might be the best way to go. I guess it all depends on your goal. I wouldn't want other sites using the video hosted at my site, though, since that comes off the bandwidth I'm paying for.

Wade Watson

[Thom McCarroll]

Yesterday on our SSWT call, Lynn recommended I set up my own domain name ASAP to host my videos, rather than keep them on YouTube. For those not on the call, here's my situation. I'm a real estate appraiser and started a blog recently with homeowner tips to get ready for their appraisal and to also increase their home value. About the 2nd week into this new blog, I rec'd requests from 3 real estate sites (from Louisiana to Florida) asking if they could add one of my videos to their website. I was shocked and excited. My blog is http://homeappraisaltips.blogspot.com I should have asked Lynn on the call but we were out of time. (Lynn, hope you read this and reply too when you have time) I understand I need them on my own site for ownership and control. But won't I be losing a lot of visibility if I don't put have them on YouTube? Thanks for any feedback.

Most of the online video's I watch seem to be hosted at:

http://aws.amazon.com/s3/

though you could just host them where you would keep your websites. If you do not have website other than the freebies then use the above.

As for ownership..you will always own them it is a matter of what you allow others to use them for.

As for control: If you are allowing others (real-estate agents) to use your videos for a fee, then do not put them on YouTube or any other public webhosting service and host them on space you pay for. If your clients do not pay, you change the URL and they have no video. Which means every new client should have there own separate URL I would think.

I would probably want to watermark them so to keep the thieves away
(yea right)

As for losing visibility, why not make a LITE version for YouTube with a re-direct annotation to your sales page?

Hope that helps

Thom

[sheriesmith]

Hi Thom, thanks for all the good comments. What do you mean by LITE version for YouTube?

Sherie

[Ellen C Braun]

I think having your videos on youtube and on your own site is the way to go.

You want to have your link or contact info somewhere in your video, so the people that find you via youtube can contact you easily.

There's no problem at all having your videos on youtube and your site- it's a great way to get more exposure.

What are your other marketing strategies?